Story samples
by Izumi1909
Summary: My favourite chapters from stories that are too long to be entirely translated into english.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer :** Fullmetal Alchemist isn't mine, Daniel is.

**Rating :** K+

**Note :** Well, I first thought of translating my oldest one shot that is the only one still getting comments from other people than complete fanatics of my work from time to time, but it just had too much things that only worked in French in it. I thought I could put off the translation project a little, since University work was piling up… but I just wanted to do it again. Than I remembered these two stories that I never wanted to translate because they were too long… but also were certainly the two best. Than I remembered some chapters in these were written like one-shots and an idea sparked : translating selected chapters from them and putting links at the end for anyone who would want to read more… that's just until I decide myself on an actual one-shot to translate or have time to do something longer.

**A little company**

(1911)

The train stopped at the Resembool station and Daniel alighted. He followed the path to a house that wasn't far away from the cemetery. It was recognizable because of the very big suit of armour standing next to the door that was holding a sign with "Elric brother's repair shop" written on it, and in smaller letters "For the umpteenth time, it' next-door for the automails!". He knocked at the door, Edward opened:

-Yes, it's for what? Oh, hi Daniel.

-You and Alphonse must certainly be doing good work, because people surely don't come here for the welcoming.

-So, Hughes found something?

-Everything's in that bag, he indicated with his right hand, the only one he could use.

They sat at the table in the dining room. When Daniel got the files out of the bag, Edward noticed the toys that were in there too:

-What's this? You left the army and got a new job as Santa Claus?

-No, these toys were hers before and the were still lying around the house. I thought she'd be happy to see them again. Now, let's talk about serious stuff.

Edward opened the file that Daniel was handing him:

-What is a photo of Hughe's daughter doing in there?

-It's the danger when you ask Maes to build a file.

Edward removed the photo and looked at the first page:

-Shou Tucker? Who's that one?

-A leading researcher in the chimera domain. In 1909, he passed the State Alchemist exam by presenting the very first chimera that could speak. All we know is that it just said "I want to die" and that after she refused to eat and is dead of hunger. He was recently supposed to take his second evaluation, but he seems to have plainly disappeared.

-And the girl's mother?

-From the information we have, he was a widower.

-What? But from what she said, her mother went back to her parents' house.

-He could have lied… in both cases.

Edward put on a horrified face:

-No… don't tell me that…

-Yes, it's highly possible that the chimera he presented at was his wife mended with another animal. And you're keeping the evidence that he's able to go that far under this roof. Keep that file, it will be better worth than any explanation if someone discovers her. By the way, where is she?

-She went out with Al. It's really cute, she follows him everywhere, said Edward with a softened look he very rarely put on.

-Are you sure it's a good idea? Someone could see her.

-If we kept her locked in here, we'd already be not treating her as a human being.

Daniel smiled:

-Roy apparently did a good choice putting her in your care.

Edward took the bag of toys:

-Do you mind guarding the shop while I go put that in her room?

-She has her own room?

-We had a free one, it might as well be used.

Edward went upstairs.

Daniel heard the door open and a few seconds later, something enormous was tackling him on the ground:

-Big brother!

-Hi Nina, said Daniel trying to move from under the chimera that kind of looked like a weird dog. Can you get off my back, please?

She moved a little and the young man was able to get back up:

-Sorry, said Alphonse. But apparently, it's one of the dog's habits. What's bringing you here?

-I found information about her that will be useful, including the reason she's like that. And it's far from being a nice story, as you must be expecting.

In his mother's former room that had become Nina's, Edward heard a few pieces of the conversation between Daniel and Alphonse that was sure to last. He started to put away the different objects where he could and found a framed photo of a little girl with chestnut brown hair and a quite big white dog.

-What what monster could have dared to do that to her.

He decided to keep it to put it on the mantelpiece. Seeing that room looking like it had someone in it again, and in particular how much it had changed in the last few days, had a funny effect on him.

Alphonse opened the house's door:

-Here Nina, this is your new home.

While the two brothers were going upstairs to their room to unpack, Nina walked around the house to quickly realise nobody else seemed to live in it. She went to see Edward and Alphonse in their room:

-Where are your parents?

-Gone since a long time, Edward answered firmly.

-So you live here alone?

-Yes.

-Where can I sleep?

Edward petted the chimera and led her to a door he opened:

-Sorry if it smells a little stale, it hasn't been used for two years.

Saying that, he opened the window and Nina went near it:

-It's pretty, everything's green here.

-Certainly, you're only four. It must be the first time you come to the country.

-Yes. Am I going to stay like that forever? And I'm not going to see my dad and my mom again?

-I think that yes, unfortunately. What your dad did is very bad and we can't put you and your dog back like before, you may both die.

-Die?

-It's quite hard to explain… Let's say that when someone dies, they go and you don't see them again. Well, I need to go see someone.

As he was going into the graveyard with flowers, Edward saw someone that wasn't far away from his mother's grave:

-Hi Winry. You came to see your parents?

-Hi Ed! How was Central?

-Lots of people. We saw lieutenant-colonel Mustang again and met some of his colleagues. Want to know something funny?

-What?

-The daughter of a very good friend of his is born the day of my twelfth birthday. I have to admit that they were quite nice for people of the military.

Winry seemed to look behind him:

-What's wrong?

-Do you think it's a dog behind you?

Edward turned around to see Nina who must have followed him and suddenly got nervous thinking she could talk in front of Winry:

-I told you to stay home with Al!

-What? It's yours? said the young girl surprised. Since when?

-Uh… today.

Edward seemed more and more nervous and what had to happen happened:

-Something's wrong, big brother? asked the chimera in a worried tone.

-It talks? said Winry surprised.

The situation had to be explained to her.

-So our friend Winry knows the little we knew before we brought that file. We told her we would keep her informed, explained Alphonse.

-I going to go see her myself in that case, said Daniel.

-Wait, it's not a good idea to go there alone, the Rockbells have a kind mixed opinion about the army. It would be better if I went with you. Ed! Could you keep an eye on Nina and the shop, I'm taking Daniel to Winry's place.

-I'm coming down!

Daniel and Alphonse arrived in front of the workshop:

-Oh, she works in the automail workshop right next to your house?

-Her grand-mother's the owner.

-And her parents?

-They were doctors in the Ishbal war and they got killed there.

-I see.

-By the way, how come you didn't replace your arm yet?

-A big irony about they army's engineers: they can make automails with the most sophisticated weapons but can't find a way to integrate a simple stamp into a prosthetic. And won't get something installed than arm that could make that less cumbersome.

-Why do you want that so much?

-The alchemy that consists of making "artificial souls" and bounding them to statues is quite complicated. Among other things, you must put a seal on the statues you want to bring to life and since it's quite complicated, I made a stamp out of it. But each time, I need to get it out of the little bag then put it back in and I already lost it several times. So I would save me time and be sure to always have it with me, that way.

Winry opened the door:

-When are you two going to decide yourself on coming in?

Daniel had just told Winry what had happened to Nina:

-Poor little girl, she said when he was done. By the way, aren't you a little young to be in the army?

-You didn't hear about that boy who passed the exam at the age of fifteen last year? Well, it was me.

-Aren't you a little short to be sixteen?

-I am, but I can't change it, he answered smiling. Apart from that…

-Yes, I understood that we're supposed to hide the fact she's here as much as possible. Anything else?

-Can I have a look at your catalogue?

Alphonse went back to the shop alone and saw two kids that were leaving it.

-Bye, and don't tell your parents about that big price cut I gave you!

-Well, considering how frequently he breaks his toys, it's only a question of time before it's compensated anyway, answered the older of the two.

Edward saw Alphonse:

-Hey, where's Daniel?

-He stayed at the Rockbell's, apparently they had exactly the kind of automail he wanted to get installed.

-Good for him. It's getting late, could put that we're closed?

-Yes.

Alphonse took the "open" sign that was hanging from one on the armour's fingers and saw it was stuck. He decided to pull harder on it, but amour fell on him and the helmet ended up on his head.

Edward came out and put the amour back up:

-Are you alright, Al?

-No problem.

Through the helmet, his voice seemed a little metallic.

**I think this is a good sample of the story that's from. The only thing actually missing is another original character that is quite important in the story. Well, you must be thinking that it is ****a kind of AU fic… you're right and wrong at the same time. You're right with the fact that the context is different, but apart from sticking Daniel in the army much earlier than in "Soul's Alchemist", everything you see has been triggered by one little change; a change that occurs during an event showed in episode 1 and 3. Instead of just standing there and looking at the Elric's house glow, Mustang didn't stop walking a second after arriving at Resembool and got there just in time to pull them away from the black hands. As consequence they both have bad scars that don't stand cold weather too well, but they didn't actually loose anything. No lost limbs, no reason for Edward to become a State alchemist and since Mustang didn't see them surviving it, he had no reason to offer the job. Now, Daniel is the best one placed to tell you what happened next because of the part he has in the story.**

**Daniel: Well, she could have left the story there, but she decided to develop it a little. First thing, in this story I became a State Alchemist while Roy was in Resembool because the 1910 exams were around that time and joined his team without knowing it at first since he was away. The second thing that happened is that little after the exam, I was walking around in Central when I went by the Tucker's place while Nina was playing with Alexander in her garden. She came to talk to me and even though we became quick very close friends, I never met her father. Around a year later, the after my first evaluation I went by her house to see she wasn't there anymore. The Elric brothers came to visit Roy in Central around the time we were dealing with Barry and actually helped us a little in his capture (I faint the second I see a big blade under a particular angle, remember that). At some point during their visit, we went by the Tucker's old place and ran into Nina who had been turned into a chimera and apparently just escaped from somewhere. For her own safety, we needed to get her away from the military as fast as possible… and Roy more or less used the fact that he knew about their human transmutation to get the Elric brothers to take her with them.**

**Me : In France the story is technically finished but on the site it's published on it's easier to insert a new chapter between two already existing ones and I really take advantage of it. Sorry, but knowing a little French is the only way you'll ever read the whole story. If you're interested in spite of all, here's a direct link to it :**


	2. It could have been worse

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Fullmetal Alchemist, but Nora is mine.

**Rating:** K+

**Pairings:** Just all mentioned in the chapter, and you can't usually expect more than that in my stories.

**Note:** I chose this chapter because it's the epilogue of the first part of my "Happy ending" series (you'll soon notice that a more accurate name would be "happier ending" because some sad things still happen), that was also my very first published fanfic in France. For that reason it's one of the many crossroads of the global story. And I just love what happens in it…

(Caïn is the name I gave Rose's baby and Nora is my version of the feminine OC you frequently need to add to anime alternative endings if you want to keep the official pairings and don't want to Al to stay single… NASC National Alchemy School of Central)

**It could have been worse…**

The party had a good reason to be; Edward had now been a State Alchemist for ten years. And many things had happened since Nora had entered the circle of the ones who knew of his secret and Alphonse's. Among the marriages that had been celebrated, one could count Rose and captain Havoc's, Sheska and second lieutenant Fuery's, Edward and Winry's and finally Alphonse and Nora's. There had also been quite a few births, among which there was Maes Mustang born on Alphonse's seventeenth birthday, Caroline, Caïn's younger sister, Trisha Elric Alphonse and Nora's son and also her older cousin Nicolas Elric. But the law of equivalent exchange seemed to still be applied and some names had been added to the memorial: Izumi Curtis, Pinako Rockbell and Grace Hughes who had died the year before when Elicia was nine. She seemed to adapt little by little to her new life in the Fuhrer's home, and had revealed to have an unexpected talent for alchemy that she was learning with Alphonse, who was among the best teachers of the NASC. He treated her almost like a younger sister and she considered him almost like an older brother. Edward and Alphonse's connecting rooms had become the apartment for Alphonse, Nora and baby Trisha as the older brother now had his own room that he used when he wasn't at Resembool. He went back there as frequently as he could because he didn't want his son to feel abandoned by his father.

-Edward

The day after the party, Edward was asking himself two questions. The first one was pretty general: why did he have to keep the marks of his mistake forever, when Alphonse ended up so well? The second one was more direct:

-Where has that stupid notebook gone?

Alphonse came into his room:

-Hey Ed, did you see Elicia by any chance?

-No! And I'm already looking for something.

-What is it?

-The notebook from my first years in the army! It disappeared!

-You're really sure to have looked for it everywhere?

-Yes! And Elicia is maybe in the playing room with Maes and Caïn.

-I already went there, Rose didn't see her. You maybe simply left in Resembool.

-I'm certain it's here.

The two brothers went out in the hallway and ran into Fuery:

-Did you see Elicia?

-Yes, she was dragging a big pan of water on wheels and asked me where the charcoal was before going towards the basement.

One of the kitchen's employees joined the little group:

-I'd like to find that kid too! She stole me a package of two hundred and fifty grams of salt! I wonder what she wants to do with it.

-Elicia

Elicia had been surprised to find the instruction for human transmutation in the notebook belonging to Edward who was a State alchemist. The transmutation circle and the necessary ingredients, everything was in it! The girl had had trouble not being seen while she was getting the ingredients together, but had only run into people that knew very little, sometime nothing about alchemy. The basement was the perfect place to try to bring her mother back to life. Everything was now ready, Elicia gathered all her courage and activated the transmutation circle. Light came out of the circle and her right arm got enveloped in light as little black hand were appearing. The basement's door opened behind the child:

-Elicia!

She felt Edward's hands grabbing her shoulders (she knew it was him, his right hand was much harder than the left one) and making her fall back, getting her hands off the transmutation circle. Elicia realised at that moment that her arm was hurting horribly and heard someone fall behind her. She turned, Edward had fainted. Someone got close to her and hugged her; it was Alphonse, she felt like he was crying.

-You didn't need to do that, Elicia. We're your family, you'll have to get used to it. We love you very much her, I thought you had understood that. And it wouldn't have worked anyway.

It wasn't the first time that Alphonse told her "We're your family, you'll have to get used to it". Before loosing consciousness because of the wound, the girl heard quick footsteps that were getting closer and Fuery's voice:

-Edward! Alphonse! Are you there? Why did you run so fast?

-Mustang

-Captain Havoc! Are you finally going to tell us what's happening? And what do you need those sheets for?

Havoc had abruptly asked Mustang and Hawkeye to follow him as the Fuhrer was about to leave for the HQ. He led them to the room that was used as an infirmary by the people living in the household. As he got in, he threw the sheets to Alphonse who had a big spot of blood on his shirt. He transmitted them into bandages that he gave Fuery to bandage still unconscious Elicia's bloody arm, as Edward was lying on the couch that was in the room.

-What happened to Elicia? asked Mustang.

-Oh, here you are. Stay here major [Hawkeye, I have something to show Mustang, said Alphonse.

Alphonse led Mustang to the basement:

-I'm sorry, I tried to take good car of her.

On the room's floor, a very complicated transmutation circle was drawn with a recipient containing several elements in the middle. It was erased in some places and had a spot of blood near on of the edges.

-She was going to do a human transmutation?

-She had already started when Ed stopped her. We realised what she vas going to do almost too late.

-How did you mange to stop her in time?

-While we were looking for her, we ran into Fuery who said he saw her carting a lot of water and to whom she had asked where to find charcoal. And someone from the kitchen came to tell us the she had taken a certain quantity of salt. I thought Ed's conclusions were a little presumptuous, but he was right.

He started crying:

-Ed got her out of there, not me. What I should have done is be a good enough teacher to get the idea out of her head.

Mustang found the right words:

-Think a little of what you just said. Are you sure you don't know someone else who felt the same way?

-Master Izumi… I understand now.

-Now you're the teacher. Try first of all to find the right attitude to have when she'll wake up, you'll see about what comes next after that.

-Thanks.

-Hawkeye

Hawkeye had guessed by herself what had happened:

-What do you mean by human transmutation? asked Fuery. A resurrection? But then she should have lost part of her body like Edward, shouldn't she?

-Maybe it was happening and he stopped her in the middle of the process. You said yourself that it looked like some shreds of skin had been taken away and that Alphonse insisted that she should be treated here.

-Do you think he's going to wake up?

-Sure he will. He's still haunted by the memory of his own mistake and it's difficult to find closer to that memory than what must have happened. One thing is sure, it could have been worse.

Edward woke up:

-Elicia! Her arm! he yelled as he was sitting up.

Hawkeye turned toward him:

-She's going to have a big scar, but it's still here. And you how do you feel?

-Good… It's funny, I suddenly feel like I have a weight of my shoulder. Thinking that I would have never guessed what was happening if I hadn't myself once…

He got close to the bed and took Elicia's right hand in metallic one:

-Maybe that if Mustang had arrived earlier… (it's funny how that line ended up foreshadowing the writing of the story the previous chapter is from)

It was now Elicia's turn to wake up:

-Auntie Liza? What are you doing here? Ow! My arm hurts!

She sat and looked at her harm:

-Edward, you're here too? Why did you keep me from bringing my mom back? You said you would be my big brother with master Alphonse!

-Because you could have lost your arm doing it!

-Why would I have lost it?

Edward took his uniform jacket and his right glove off. He was wearing a short-sleeved shirt, just in case.

-Because it's what happened when I tried. And it didn't bring my mother back. Human transmutations never succeed.

-Alphonse knows that you did that?

-Yes. That's why he wanted to be sure you'd never do it. In addition to that, he was exactly your age at the time. We wanted to see our mother again, even though another family received us as if we were part of it. Roy and Liza consider you like their daughter, you already are very lucky to have a new home, even if it won't replace the old one.

-Is master Alphonse going to be mad?

-I don't know.

Alphonse entered the room, a photo in his hand. He showed it to the little group. It was a photo taken the day Elicia's birth. She was on it as baby with her parents, Edward and Alphonse in armour:

-Elicia, there's a story I'd like to tell you.

**Same apology than to my French readers: sorry I killed Grace,**** but I had an idea of scene in which one of the Elric brother's student tries human transmutation and Elicia was already pre-cut by Hiromu Arakawa for the part. Otherwise, there's a fact about that series that you should know just for laughs: Edward's son Nicolas and Mustang share the same birthday! (just felt like torturing Edward a little when I thought of it)**

**Link to original story: **


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